Thursday, May 30, 2013

The end of April brought the highly anticipated Pinewood Derby. Brandon and Hyrum worked so hard on the car. They researched how to make the best car and various designs of paint and body type. Hyrum was the one that picked the body type of the car as well as the design. Hyrum and Brandon were able to go to a neighbors house to cut out the car with a table saw. The next step was to paint the body which they both did together as well as put the wheels on and other final touches.

On the day of derby there was excitement in the air. The first step of the night was to get your car weighed to make sure it didn't pass the legal limit or to see if you could add more weight. Our car was pretty much dead on. The nice post man in our town lets the boys come and weigh their cars before the race; which Hyrum did.

After cars were weighed, the cars were assigned a number and set on the table and not allowed to be touched unless it was their turn to race.

The derby was set up in a round robin. Every car would race ten different cars. At the end of the ten races, the judges would decide who was the winner based off of wins and loses. Two cars would race at a time.

Hyrum's car won every race of the ten races. It was so cute to see how excited he (as well as Brandon) was to see how well his car that he slaved over did. This is the official "Yes" picture.

I was proud of Hyrum, even though his car was doing really well, he tried his best to show good sportsmanship.

At the end of the ten races, Hyrum's car tied with another car at not losing a single race. It was decided that there would be a race off. It was then that Hyrum's car lost his first race. They decided to switch tracks and race again. This time, the cars tied! A redo was in order. Hyrum's car barely lost! Hyrum took second place out of about twenty cars! He did awesome! It was a fun night. Hyrum and Brandon are already making plans for next year!

We spoiled Brandon on his birthday. His staff at his work gave him an amazing movie bucket. It was filled with treats, the movie Life of Pi and even two movie tickets to a local theater. The kids had the day off from school on Brandon's birthday and were able to help me pick out Brandon's present. The kids and I brought cupcakes to Brandon's work for his birthday. Hyrum and Ben picked out Twilight cupcakes to take and Emmy wanted to bring daddy Honey Bee cupcakes. We also took Brandon out to eat at Chili's for dinner.

When we came home from dinner, we opened presents. The kids put the reciept for Brandon's dry cleaning in their card that they made for him. Brandon was pretty excited that we had a lot of his work clothes dry cleaned for his birthday.

Next, came the exciting present for Brandon to open. We were sneaky and wrapped Brandon's present funny so he wouldn't know what we got him. In the present, Brandon found a picture of the grill that the kids and I picked out for his birthday. Brandon was pretty excited to see a picture of a grill (my parents also chipped in towards the grill)

To finish the night, we celebrated with cake and ice cream. We are so lucky to have such a wonderful daddy and husband!

I had a wonderful birthday in April. The day before, my friends took me to get a pedicure and lunch. On my birthday, the kids made me beautiful cards. It was so cute to see how excited my kids were for my birthday! Emmy decorated the book case and my chair for my birthday.

The kids had me walk to my dinner spot with my eyes closed and holding a string where they had their wonderful cards.

I was spoiled by a delicious dinner made by Brandon and an amazing cake!

Brandon gave me the DVD and CD of the new Les Miserable movie.

I was very much loved on my birthday! I couldn't ask for a better day.

On our third day in Disneyland, we hit all of the rides we missed or rides that were our favorite.

Emmy wanted me to do her hair like Minnie's ears.

While Grandma was getting another fast pass for the Radiator Springs and Brandon went and got a fast pass for the Soaring Over California, we went and rode the Monsters Inc. ride. It was a cute ride and a fun way to start off our day.

The next ride we went on was the Grizzly River Run. There was no wait and the kids just ran right through. The kids loved it! Poor Emmy got completely drenched!

We rode the Toy Story Mania ride again that the kids and adults absolutely loved, but not before we stopped and Hyrum took a picture with Donald Duck.

Then we went on Soaring Over California. It was pretty neat to have an air-side view of the state of California.

Next, we headed off into the Disneyland park, to the Toon Town area. The kids thoroughly enjoyed all the silly things in Toon Town. The kids even had a chance to meet Goofy.

After Toon Town, we were able to met up with some of our dear, dear, friends from BYU. They are some of the best friends that we have every had and we are so grateful that they took time out of their busy day to meet us in Disneyland. We were able to ride the Haunted Mansion ride and the Winnie the Pooh ride together.

After we said good-bye to our friends, we headed back to the hotel for some much need rest. We made it back just in time to ride the Radiator Springs ride again!

While the big kids were on the ride, Lucy played in the Stanley fountain with Papa. She loved every minute of playing in the water with Papa. I am sure playing in the water fountain was a highlight of both Papa's and Lucy's trip.

Next, we headed to Luigi's Casa Della Tires for Hyrum as well as Mater's Tow Truck ride for Ben.

Carsland in the evening, with their neon lights on, is amazing!

As it started to get dark, we headed over to Paridise Pier to watch World of Color. It was amazing. Various colors, lights and water would dance to classic Disney songs from beloved movies. It was a sight to behold.

When World of Color was over, everyone except Hyrum, Grandma and I went back to the hotel. Grandma, Hyrum and I hit all of Hyrum's favorite rides again. We went on Splash Mountain, Pirates of the Carribean, Tea Cups, Dumbo, and Pinnochio. It was a fun time to have just the three of us. I think Hyrum was in heaven!

It was a wonderful trip. The kids did amazing, even Lucy. Disneyland is a magical place. As my dad says, "It was a trip of a lifetime!"

Quote of the Week

"If you are still in the process of raising children, be aware that the tiny fingerprints that show up on almost every newly cleaned surface, the toys scattered about the house, the piles and piles of laundry to be tackled will disappear all too soon and that you will—to your surprise—miss them profoundly."-President Thomas S Monson

Sisters, there is something inspiring and sublime about the little forget-me-not flower. I hope it will be a symbol of the little things that make your lives joyful and sweet. Please never forget that you must be patient and compassionate with yourselves, that some sacrifices are better than others, that you need not wait for a golden ticket to be happy. Please never forget that the “why” of the gospel of Jesus Christ will inspire and uplift you. And never forget that your Heavenly Father knows, loves, and cherishes you.—President Dieter F. Uchtdorf